Taking photos with your cell phone has become more and more popular, and Sony is banking on the fact that that popularity is going to steadily increase in 2011. The company is ready to invest quite a mighty sum to making sure that they are ready for the new year, and that their image sensors get installed not only in phones, but also camcorders and digital cameras.

The internal investment from the company is a collected movement, and it is part of the production plant buy-back from Toshiba that took place recently. While Sony is investing $1.2 billion into doubling the output of its Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensors, it is also costing the company $600 million to buy back the plant from Toshiba. It’s expected that Sony, which has already confirmed the production plant’s purchase, will use part of that plant in Nagasaki, Japan, to roll out more sensors.

To help the whole thing get going, Sony is expecting to receive an unknown amount from the Japanese government in subsidies. These will be used to help environmentally-friendly businesses in Japan. With Canon in sight, which is Sony’s main competitor in the sensor market, the investment, as well as the extra production plant, may mean that Sony has what’s necessary to make the move to number 1 possible.